Conventionally, sanitary napkins, panty liners and urine-collecting pads, for example, are known as absorbent articles to absorb excreta such as menstrual blood and the like. Each of these absorbent articles has an absorbent body that absorbs and retains menstrual blood and the like; a liquid-permeable top sheet disposed on a surface on the absorbent article that contacts skin; and a liquid-impermeable back-sheet disposed on a surface of the absorbent article that contacts an undergarment. These napkins and the like are normally worn by being attached to underwear, for example.
However, for absorbent articles like the one described above, it is preferred that the absorbing portion of the absorbent body be placed in close contact to the area of excretion of the wearer to securely trap excreta that is discharged. The reason for this close contact is that if a gap is formed, for example, between the wearer's area of excretion and the absorbent article when the absorbent article is in use, the excreta can flow along the top sheet of the absorbent article and leak from the sides of the absorbent article and reach the buttocks of the wearer. This can soil the wearer's underwear and undergarments.
Particularly, in the case of a sanitary napkin worn by being attached to the wearer's underwear, it is easy for the underwear and area of excretion to become relatively displaced when the wearer's body moves. This displacing is a cause of side leaks of excreta. In addition, because a sanitary napkin, for example, is normally sandwiched between the wearer's underwear and femoral region, the napkin receives compressing force in a horizontal direct from the wearer's femoral region causing it to be compressed and become deformed. The deformation of the absorbent body causes a gap to form between the wearer's area of excretion and the sanitary napkin, which results in the wearer's underwear or undergarments becoming soiled.
Therefore, a sanitary napkin as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 09-108262, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety and hereinafter referred to as Patent Publication 1, prevents side leaks of excreta and the like caused by twisting of the absorbent body. That is accomplished by forming a pair of compressed channels by consecutively press-treating the top sheet and absorbent body, and equipping each compressed channel in a length direction of the sanitary napkin.
The sanitary napkin disclosed in Patent Publication 1 arranges a pair of compressed channels to sandwich a core portion disposed in substantially the center in the width direction of the sanitary napkin, for example. A comparatively high-density compression portion and low-density compression portion are consecutively arranged in these compressed channels, thereby forming channels on the surface side of the sanitary napkin that contacts the skin. This prevents twisting that extends to the peripheral portions, even if side compression force is applied from the buttocks of the wearer causing twisting in substantially the center of the absorbent body. Therefore, menstrual blood and the like flows out along this twisting and is prevented from leaking to the sides from the peripheral portions.
In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-99372, which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety and hereinafter referred to as Patent Publication 2, discloses an absorbent article that improves adhesion by the absorbent article deforming to the wearer's skin by equipping a first flexible shaft that is emboss-formed from a surface side that contacts the wearer's skin and bends to the surface side that contacts the wearer's skin; and a second flexible shaft that is emboss-formed from a surface side that contacts the wearer's clothing and bends to the surface side that contacts the wearer's clothing.
The absorbent article disclosed in Patent Publication 2 equips both the first and the second flexible shafts on the surface sides that contact the wearer's skin and clothing of the absorbent article. This makes it easy for the absorbent article to bend to the surface sides that contact the wearer's skin and clothing when compressing force is applied from the wearer's buttocks, thereby making it easier to deform to a desired shape.
However, the sanitary napkin disclosed in Patent Publication 1 disposes compressed channels from substantially the center in the core thickness direction to the backside surface of the core. Therefore, pressure transferred from the compressed channels to the core when compressing force is applied from the wearer's buttocks in the width direction, and the article spreads in various directions from the surface sides that contact the skin and clothing in the thickness direction of the absorbent article. This causes the core to bend in various directions, which causes the problem of not being able to always attain a stable deformation.
Furthermore, the first flexible shaft of the absorbent article disclosed in Patent Publication 2 is formed in the thickness direction at the surface side that contacts the wearer's skin more than the surface side that contacts the wearer's clothing, so force transferred from the first flexible shaft when a compression force is applied in the width direction from the wearer's buttocks, and the absorbent article spreads in various directions in the thickness direction such to as surface sides that contact the wearer's skin or clothing. In addition, channels are formed on the surface side of the second flexible shaft that contacts the wearer's skin so there is the problem in that a stable deformation to that surface side is not possible because of the force of the second flexible shaft acting more in the direction of the clothing on the surface side that contacts the wearer's clothing.